Saiga antelopes found in Southern Urals after decades
Two saiga antelopes were found in the Southern Urals, where they haven't been seen for several decades.
Mar 2, 2026 0
Video footage shows two saiga antelopes in the Bredinsky district after a long absence.
Source:
The Ministry of Ecology of Chelyabinsk region reported on January 30 about the sighting of two saiga antelopes in the Bredinsky district. The animals were captured on video.
The rare antelopes were spotted in the hunting ground «Naslednitskoye», located 13 kilometers from the village of Bredy. Earlier in the same area, they were recorded in August of last year.
«It is noteworthy that the appearance of saiga antelopes in the region was last noted several decades ago,» the Ministry of Ecology said. «In the 1970s–1980s, they occasionally entered from the adjacent territory of Kazakhstan. In subsequent years, the species was not registered in the region, which is related to the reduction in the number of Kazakhstani populations.»
The saiga antelope is an even-toed ungulate mammal from the subfamily of true antelopes. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assigned it the status of a critically endangered species in 2002. Later, the population grew significantly, and in 2023, the species was moved to the green category, meaning close to vulnerable status. In Kazakhstan, its numbers are now regulated.
Historically, these antelopes inhabited the vast steppes and semi-deserts of Eurasia from the Carpathians and Caucasus to Dzungaria and Mongolia. Today, they inhabit:
- Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan,
- with occasional entries into Turkmenistan,
- in Russia: Kalmykia, Astrakhan region, Altai Republic, Volgograd and Saratov regions,
- and western Mongolia.
Last summer, farmers in Saratov region faced a mass appearance of saiga antelopes, which created problems for border areas with Kazakhstan.
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